When Rashonda “Rae” Price, a freelancer from Oklahoma City, Okla., first encountered court reporting on TikTok, she didn’t jump in right away. When she saw the post again a year later, she knew it was meant to be. Just 16 months later, she had completed her education and was writing at 225 words per minute. Now she’s preparing for her next professional milestones, including a new RPR certification. In this interview, Price reflects on her journey into the profession, the discipline behind her rapid progress, and what continues to motivate her early in her career .
JCR | Tell us about yourself and how you started your court reporting journey.
Rashonda Price | My name is Rashonda Price; people usually just call me Rae. I am a neurodivergent mother of four. I take care of my mother and two nieces. I have a background in nursing, but I’m a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. I found court reporting on TikTok two years ago. When I first saw it, I felt like it was something that I would be interested in, but at the time I decided I was just rushing into things. A year later, I saw it again and told myself this was my calling, and I started my journey.
I jumped into the nearest court reporting school I could find. Later, after finishing their theory rather quickly, I decided I needed a little bit of a challenge, so I switched to Mark Kislingbury’s Academy of Court Reporting. I completed my speeds there in nine months and switched to Allie Hall for speedbuilding.
JCR | What did you find most challenging about court reporting school?
RP | English! English has always been my worst subject. Even now I am constantly having to go over and try to figure things out. The other things would be the need for perfection. I have come to realize that we are human, and humans make mistakes and to give myself grace.
Everyone wants to be accurate, but sometimes you won’t be and that’s okay. Brush it off and keep on writing.
Rashonda Price
JCR | What is the secret to your successful balancing act of school and being a working professional with a family?
RP | I had a great support system. I take care of my mother, and when I needed to go to class, she was there to help with my kids. My eldest son would see I was practicing and would always tell the little ones: “Come on, let’s play. Mom’s studying.” I stayed consistent throughout everything. I practiced whenever I could, including at work.
JCR | You’ve reached 225 wpm in an impressive amount of time. How did you reach that speed so quickly? Tell us about your routine and any practice tips for others looking to reach that speed.
RP | There isn’t a secret to what I did. I dedicated myself to practicing, and I loved to practice. It didn’t seem like a task. I would spend hours on my machine. One day me and a group of friends got together and did a 12-hour session. I split my practice into tackling each leg at first, always practicing above my testing speed.
Moving down to hit accuracy at the end of the day. I would always make sure to take a test while I was at my peak of high-speed practice (not on the verge of being tired). If I was working for endurance, I would go to YouTube and get a ten-minute dictation at my testing speed. I would do the ten minutes, take a five-minute break, and do it again. When I did that for about three days, five-minute dictations were a breeze.
If my hands were shaking too badly, I did some exposure therapy and took one-minute tests until it felt like it was just normal practice. It’s important to realize that throughout speedbuilding you will have to change things. There is not one single thing I did the same throughout my speedbuilding journey as far as practicing. At different speeds, I had to switch it up.
JCR | What is one thing you think people might not understand about being a court reporter?
RP | That you have to be perfect. Everyone wants to be accurate, but sometimes you won’t be and that’s okay. Brush it off and keep on writing.
JCR | What do you look forward to most about being a professional court reporter?
RP | Being able to give my mother what I promised her, and my kids what they want and deserve. I plan to move to California this year, so here’s to working towards that certification and getting the funds to do so!
JCR | What does it mean to you to be an NCRA member?
RP | It means being a part of a community where people actually want to help and see you grow. Coming from nursing there is a motto that we eat the young. Not once have I seen such togetherness in a community like court reporting, and NCRA follows that ideal that I’ve seen.
JCR | Any parting thoughts?
RP | If you find yourself struggling, get some study buddies. They have been beneficial in my journey. Shout out to Victoria and David! They have helped with growing my dictionary, bouncing ideas for briefs, and just people to vent to. We have created something special.
Lastly, if you see me at a convention, come up and say hi! I’m a little on the awkward side, but I’m an open book. All questions are welcome!
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